Past 3 months, WOW

Wow, I haven't been on here since May.  I will do my best to catch you all up on our summer. 

 

Danton finished his didactic portion on school in Mid May.  He then spent 2 weeks finishing the clinicals he had left.  The last week of May he started his 30 hour a week ambulance clinical rides.  Before summer started he had 100 hours logged and he needed to complete 400 during the summer.  He will be completed with them on September 1st.  Yay.  The riding portion is divided up into 4 sections.  The first 100 hours are you getting used to being on the ambulance as a Paramedic.  As time goes on you get more and more responsibility.  You end in phase 4 where you are calling the shots, they step in if you are about to kill someone.  Most often you end up in phase 4 for about 30-50 hours.  They started him in Phase 4 with about 130 hours left and for the most part he has had great preceptors.  We have been very fortunate with that.  After he finishes his rides on the 1st he will then take his clinical test portion on September 7th and graduation is on September 15th.  After than he will need to on his own take the National Certification for becoming a Paramedic.  The hope through all this is that he will become a Paramedic with Denver Health in Denver.  I am so proud of him he has continued to work full time and manage all his rides and studying.  I know he has reached burn out on several different occasions.  He is tired and pushed very hard to make it through these last few months. 

 

I am still cleaning to help out during this portion of his school.  I am so fortunate to have a great people to clean for.  They love me and my family.  So, I am set to run my first half marathon in September.  I was on track with my training and this summer I hit wall.  I went from running consistently to barely being able to run a mile.  I was also very tired all the time.  I just assumed this past year was catching up with me, which I am sure some of it was.  I also decided to have my thyroid checked and I found out I was low.  Not crazy low but low enough that it could be helped a little and might give me some of my energy back.  I just started on it a week ago, so we will see.  I am behind in my training and was thinking I would just forget about the race and hope everyone else would too.  After my brief pitty party I decided to suck it up and push forward with the goal of "finish"  It may not be as pretty as I wanted it to be but after the year that we have had I think that goal is great.  Averie has even said she wants to be there as my cheerleader!!!  Cant' get much better than that. 

 

The kids and I enjoyed our usual pool time this summer.  I love that they both love it.  Next year I will have to rethink the  kiddy pools I go to.  Averie will want to add some bigger kid pools I am sure.  She is a little fish. 

Things we did this summer.  In July a friend that I graduated high school with was in Colorado for a whole month.  Our kids were able to spend some time with each other and they had a blast.  Averie wishes they lived closer.  And so do I!!! 

The kids and I also spent about 10 days in Nebraska in July.  Danton's mom got a week pass to their local water park and the kids had so much fun there.  While we were there Lincoln also hurt his arm.  After getting x-rays we were told it wasn't broken just a good hyper extended elbow.  Averie also bumped her front 2 teeth while we were there.  One came out in a couple of days and one turned colors and is now back to normal and still in place.  Danton took the train out to spend the last day and a half with us.  He was able to see his brother before he headed back to China and we also got some family pictures taken.  We had a good time there and enjoyed seeing everyone. 

 

When we got back from Nebraska it was time to start getting ready for school.  Bitter sweet.  With summer coming to a close it meant Averie was going back to school and also Danton was about done with school.  Although since Averie was done with school in May she has been asking when it was time to go back.  She loves school. 

 

We got her all ready, uniforms, school supplies...  Then it was time for back to school night to meet the her teacher Miss Barr.  Although when we got there we learned that her teacher quit the Friday before and that day they hired a new teacher, Mr. Schufer.  One thing I have learned is that life is never boring.  It has been an adjustment for me most of all.  But I was just telling a friend today.  I am so grateful we had an amazing teacher last year during one of our most difficult years.  That made it so nice.  And this year we have more time and attention to focus on everything Averie needs for school, if she needs it. 

 

Lincoln is also going to start going with my mom once a week to their church.  She volunteers as a Mentor Mom for their moms group that meets weekly.  I think that will be very good for him.  He is a mommas boy and he could use some socializing with other kids his age.  So, while I clean on Wednesdays she will take him there. 

Averie also starts up dance this month.  She is so excited to get that started again.  I truly think that girls world is a dance.  She dances all the time.  I am excited to watch what she will do this year. 

 

Unfortunately my computer was doing crazy things while uploading pictures so I was only able to get her first day of 2nd grade photos.  So, here she is all ready to go.  Danton couldn't go to back to school night but he was able to bring her to school on her first day.  And Lincoln wanted to get in on the pictures too!!

 

 My precious little girl when 1st grade started...

Here she is all done with 1st grade and ready for 2nd!!! 

Back in August Averie started first grade.  She loves school, friends and learning.  I thought it was hard moving from KG to first grade and letting go of that teacher.  Today she finished first grade and I don't know who had a harder time saying goodbye to Mrs Bo.  I had some tears when I got home from dropping her off.  We will both miss her SO much.  Thank you Mrs. Bo for all you invested in our little girl. 

Averie is almost done with dance for the year as well.  She competed in 3 dance competitions and loved every minute of them.  Her final recital for the dance studio is next weekend.  She has really learned so much this year, I know I have said this before but I LOVE watching her dance.   

Back in September Danton started Paramedic School.  It has been a long hard journey.  Danton traveled to Denver for school every Mon, Tues and Wed from 6-10 every night.  He also had to fit in some 200+ hours of clinicals + work.  He finished his school setting and the first part of clinicals on May 9th.  He took his final exam and did a great job!  Now he is ready to start his 400 hours of final clinical ambulance rides. He will ride 30 hours a week until graduation on September 15th.  In 3 1/2 months he will take his National Certification to become a Paramedic.  Wow, what a journey it has been.   I am so proud of all he has learned and will continue to learn.  He has helped deliver babies, cardiac arrest patients, little kiddos and so much more. 

Lincoln is growing up just as fast.  How does that happen?  I tried potty training him back around Christmas time.  I tried for 3 very unsuccessful  weeks.  I gave up and decided to try again later.  Initially I said I was going to wait until school was over, but last week I just decided one morning to give it a shot.  I am excited to report that he did it.  We are completely potty trained during the day and most nights and naptimes he wakes up dry.  He is having a hard time going #2 in the potty so I have decided to let him put a pull up on to do that.  I am thinking that is very close to changing.  He knows when he needs to go he is just having a hard time learning how to make it all work on the potty.  Either way I am so excited to have an almost fully potty trained little boy.  Ahhh no more constant pullups!!! 

I have said several times that he is just a fun little boy.  He is so funny, so kind so busy and so destructive.  Just tonight he was doing some fixing with his tools, but while he was doing that he kept coming over and giving Averie kisses.  He loves his big sister...most of the time.    Sometimes though he just really enjoys hitting her with his sword.  He is all boy and I love it.

Even though I going to miss her teacher I am SOOO ready for summer break.  No having to drive to school and dance.  I will be cleaning this summer but I love that it is a job I can do it  around my schedule with the kids.  And I am so grateful that neither one of them mind going with me and the places I go don't mind if I bring them.  I have been blessed with such great clients.  It works out so great. 

Well happy start of summer everyone.  Enjoy it because time goes my so fast. 

What's New with You

Wow, what a few weeks it has been with us.

We have been very sick around here. I can't remember a time that our house was knocked out for over a week. I think we are just now in a good up swing. And thankfully Danton wasnt' affected at all by any of it. Averie even missed school on her birthday and thought that it was pretty cool because she got a stay at home birthday.

When she went back it was "dress up" as a character of a book day. Having been off for a week and just finding out about this day I had to quick come up with something. We decided upon Fancy Nancy. As you can tell from the above picture she was so loving it.

Last weekend Averie also had a Dance Competition. I can't say enough how much I am proud of my little girl. She did an amazing job. She was the only one in her age group from her Studio to compete in a dance Improv Competition. Out of 12 girls 8 and under she won first place. She won a complete scholarship to next years competition and a plaque which she was so excited to hang in her room. She has one more competition this year and I can't wait I am so excited to watch her!!

Danton is plugging on in school and clinicals. We are pushing toward May 9th to finish out the didactic portion. He is doing a great job managing all that is his plate.

Due to all the sickness I just started my training for the half marathon. I know I have my work cut out for me but I am SO excited for it. I am also grateful for the 70 degree weather we are having.

Not much new with Lincoln. He got hit with the brunt of the sickness. The best part about him being sick was him giving up the bottle. That has been our biggest struggle and now its gone!!! Now if we can just get him potty trained.

Happy week to you all Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Hello Everyone

Happy Day Everyone...

I thought I would really make the effort to post more often...

Last Monday Averie had a day off school so we loaded up and took my mom to the Denver Aquarium and the Children's Museum. The kids had a great time and were worn out at the end of the day.
Danton is heading into his final few months of the didactic portion of school. We are in a huge push toward the end of that. That means we are really needing to finish up a lot of things in the next few months. If you can please continue to think of him as he is REALLY being stretched in his time right now. He is very tired and is having to learn A LOT!!! On a side note he did his last Labor and Delivery clinical the other day and helped deliver and baby and also watched a C-Section. Pretty cool.
So, normally I don't have much to report for myself. I am just managing everyone else and making sure that everything gets done. I have been looking for something that I can do and have a good time at. I can read but
can't do book clubs because of our schedule and they are at night when Danton is at school. I needed something I can do on my own no matter what time of the day. So, at the beginning of the year I got a running stroller at one of the local consignment stores and just this past week I signed myself up for a half marathon in September. I am a bit nervous and a bit excited. Good thing I have until September!!! Now when it warms up and Averie is at dance I can load Lincoln up and run. And thanks to my mom I have a treadmill at home for the current cold days. Lets get rocking and rolling...
Averie is getting ready for her second Dance Competition. She is improving SO much this year. It has been so much fun watching her grow in her skills. She just started a tumbling class this week and loved it.
We are also getting ready for her birthday party. We are having it a week after her birthday because of the competition. It happens to be on St. Patricks Day so we are having a St. Patricks themed party...she is so excited because that is one of her favorite holidays. Yay Green!!! She is doing it at Lowe's and the kids are all getting to build there own projects to take home.
That is all for us this week. Hope you are enjoy your extra day in February tomorrow!!!

Seasons

Wow, it has been almost 3 months since I have been on here. Maybe when Danton said "When are you going to have time to blog" is true.

Here's to February and getting back into the groove.

Seasons...life is made up of many seasons and as you can tell due to the lack of communication our season is very busy right now.

Season of busy~ I am seeing that this season never really ends. But right now I am a bit busier than I have been at other times in my life. From rise to bed the days are very full. I reached a sad moment the other day about my busy almost 7 year old. I absolutely adore her teacher and I realized that her year is almost half over. I am going to miss Mrs Bo. very much. Busy means eventually moving on to new things. I know dance takes us a lot of our time but I love watching Averie's love of dance. She just loves to dance with all of her being. Busy means watching her grow and develop in ways I can't even put into words. Busy means the everyday adventure that Mr. Lincoln brings. Whether he is smiling and laughing or surfing down the stairs he is ALWAYS busy. Busy means Danton's long hours of school, clinicals and work but that busy means he is half way done with his current journey as well. I am excited to see where the end of that busy leads us next. As for my busy it is just the same as always...trying my best to manage everyone else's busy. Some days it is much easier said that done. I feel as though I am trying to just stay afloat some days. Once I get caught up things just get crazy again. Season of busy...

Season of learning~ I think one of the biggest joys of parenthood is watching your children learn. Averie just had her parent teacher conferences and she got a great report. Her reading is at the mid second grade level and she is above average in everything else. The teacher's aide has told me that she is so excited to see what Little Miss Averie will be when she grows up. Averie is VERY interested in everything Danton is learning right now. Recently Danton told her one time a little bit about the body and this is what happened. Averie made Danton a Book. The book is a picture of the body and specifically of the heart and all that goes along with it...the heart with all 4 anatomical chambers, bundle branches, aorta, spinal cord, kidneys with nerve roots. Then on the next page she drew a blood vessel with red and white blood cells and a platelet. She was so excited to show him and she mentioned that he could use it to study from. The funny thing is he could actually study from it, it was AMAZING. He was a proud dad and brought it to school to show some of the teachers. She even told the Doctors Danton works with at the hospital about it. If you tell her that she should be a doctor she will say "Everyone tells me that"!!! She is one smart cookie.

One thing I was often told was that our second child will have a hard time living up to his sister's standards. I think that he may give her a run for her money. Just tonight someone made the comment that they are so alike. Lincoln is very much a homebody and a mommas boy but he LOVES people and there aren't many strangers he won't talk to. He is learning so much about the world around him and it is a joy to watch. Danton is learning so much as well. We were told at the beginning of his Paramedic journey that it would be long and intense. They weren't lying. I am so proud of him and all he is accomplishing right now. He will make a great Medic and maybe eventually more... I don't wish injury on anyone I know, but if something was to happen I am sure he could take great care of you. I am learning that I am capable of handling more that I thought I could with all of the above learning!!! Sorry not that exciting I know.

Season of Fun~ Where do we fit in all the fun you ask??? That is a very good question. We have learned to squeeze fun whenever we can. We don't often have a day off with everyone present but if we do we try to do something fun. We may not always go out and have an adventure it may be as simple as a family movie night all on the couch together. We have had several of those lately and we have enjoyed them. We try to do things with our friends who are okay with doing things very spontaneously. Danton and I even had a date the other day. Hold the phone I know...We went to a movie and lunch, we are looking forward to the next date. The other night we had a great time at the Denver Aquarium. Our Awesome Auntie Kate got our family a year membership there. The special there right now is the Mystic Mermaids, can anyone guess who in our family was most looking forward to that...yes Danton you are right!!!HAHA.

Season of Laughter~ I have to say this award goes to Lincoln. He is hands down the funniest person in our family. Averie wins the smarts award and funny goes to Lincoln. Between sunrise and sunset are tiring sometimes but Lincolns wit really helps. If you haven't gotten to experience it I hope someday you do. It makes a busy time a little bit lighter. I love that little man.

I am sure there are a lot more seasons to list and talk about but for now that kind of sums up all the little things making our our seasons. They are a lot some days but when Danton is graduating in September from Paramedic school that season of busy will seem so small. When Averie graduates from Medical School and is a Ballet teacher that area of busy will seem so small. When Lincoln jumps off something, falls down the stairs head first and then does something so funny that season will make me sad because I know he is moving on to other things. Everything in perspective.

Love to all of you and Happy New Year!!! Enjoy your seasons whatever they may be.

The Crazy Cycle

So, when I was just a mom to a sweet little girl things just didn't seem so hard. Then we added Lincoln. I specifically remember the day that I thought, I think I might have the hang of this. Lincoln was 4 months old...
After several conversations today I think that is where I am again... learning my new crazy cycle. Never did I think we would be in our 30's and looking at starting a new career. Since first meeting Danton I never understood why he wasn't doing something medical, in some weird way he just understands it and actually enjoys it. Currently he is in school and if all goes well he will be in school for 5-6 more years? Averie is getting older and becoming more involved in things and school demands more of her and well Lincoln, he is just Lincoln, busy busy busy!!! And this week I think I finally feel some sort of sanity. I have proudly made my famiy dinner, a real one both days so far. Every day we have been out of the door before we needed to to get to school, with no arguments or battles. And on Monday I even had everything ready to go to clean the house I clean before we left for school. I have stayed on top of the house and the laundry. And everyone is doing well in school and getting their homework done!!! I know this is only Tuesday, but I feel like things are going in a good direction.
It just seems like there is so much demand on perfection. Perfect house, car...life. I can say that I am no where near that. I can say however that I LOVE my family. Everyone of us is in a learning curve right now and I think we are doing okay.


Just a couple of little adds...If you are into praying with us Danton has his appointment for his grant today. We don't get a decision today but we are one step closer.
He is absolutely loving what he is doing and learning. He has had several shadow opportunites and has taken an interest in orthopedics and pediatrics, or possibly both together. We'll see???
And LIncoln's band aid is off and his head is looking a lot better!!!

Look who is 2!!!

We have had a bit of an adenterous week at the Zumalt house. It started last Sunday when Mr. Lincoln turned 2!!! Because Danton had to work on Sunday we did the birthday celebration on Monday afternoon before he left for school.

Monday- We were getting things done around the house and finishing the cake before my parents came over that evening. Danton's friend needed a little help moving a few things so in the morning he went to his house to help him move. I was trying to hold off Lincoln's nap because I knew the evening would be a bit crazy. He was looking tired around 1030 but I wanted to get another half an hour out of him. In was in that half hour things got exciting. I was rearranging toys around the house and Lincoln was sitting in his rocking chair eating a snack. I walked into another room and heard Lincoln start crying and he walked into the kitchen and I noticed blood dripping from his head. Of course Danton had only been gone for about 30 mintues and was 30 minutes away... Lincoln had tipped his rocking chair over and landed his face into the corner of his train set. There is still debate as to whether he was standing in the chair or just moving in it. Either way we had a situation to deal with. I called Danton right away and he drove very quickly home to help him out. We had to make the decision whether Danton could fix him up or if we needed to bring him in. I am so thankful that Danton was closer than farther away. I am also glad that the eduction we have paid for over the past few years came in handy. Danton was amazing and took care of Lincoln even though the situation was less than ideal. Lincoln had now missed his nap and lunch was very tired, which made him not very happy. After Danton was able to clean it all up and get a good look at it we decided to not go the stiches route. That turned out to be a good decision. By the time we got everything cleaned up and Lincoln taken care of it was about time for my parents to come with Averie and have a party. Not only did Danton do a good job of helping Lincoln, he did a great job on helping with the cake I decided to make for Lincoln's birthday. We got it put together just in time despite the fun of the day. Although the day wasn't what we had planned we had a good time enjoying the very tired birthday boy.

After Danton took off to school my parents hung out for a while then we had two kids that crashed hard...until about 300 in the morning that is.

Tuesday early morning~ We had a visitor in our bedroom that said she was very hot. When putting her back in bed I noticed that she was a bit warm and was running a temp. So, she got to stay home from school on Tuesday. Daddy watched her while I took Lincoln to clean. She broke her temp later that night and ate some food, I thought we were doing better.

Wednesday~ Everyone was up and ready to go to school and Averie got sick. Another day of no school for Averie.

Thursday~ Averie was back at school. I went with her and her class on their field trip. She had a great time.

Friday~ We seem to be back to normal. Danton changed Lincoln's bandage again and he said it is looking good. It will heal and now he has his first battle wound!!!

Here are some pictures of the birthday boy.

A monkey cake for out little monkey

Hugging his animals from Nanny and Papa

Daddy helping get the tool belt ready

Ready to get to fixin

Opening the presents Averie made for him

Time to eat the cake.

Well there you have it. Our 2 year old! Excited to see what the next year has to hold.